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Waste

SMOKING'S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

According to the WHO there are currently over 1 billion smokers globally. 6 Million of those smokers will die each year from a smoking related illness.

The negative consequences of smoking range far from just the health effects on the individual. The environmental impact caused by improper disposal of cigarette butts is as large as it is concerning.

Each year 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded improperly around the world. They are the single most littered item in existence, ever.

It is in our towns and cities that the vast majority of cigarette ends are discarded improperly. With the help of wind and rain they are often blown or washed into our waterways. They then either remain in our lakes and rivers, make their way to the ocean, or get washed up in our natural spaces.

While in our waterways cigarette butts can often be mistaken for food by aquatic life. If a human adult ingests a cigarette butt they are likely to have some mild health consequences such as vomiting and a upset stomach. Imagine the pain and suffering ingesting a cigarette butt would cause to an animal the size of a fish. (Symptoms include vomiting, respiratory failure, and often death.)

If the cigarette butt gets washed out of our waterways onto a riverbank or onto the beach, non marine life faces the same issue. Land animals will also mistake it for food, ingest it, and receive the same potentially lethal consequences as aquatic life.

To make matters worse, (contrary to popular belief) cigarette butts are not biodegradable. They can take up to 25 years to fully degrade. While they do so they are releasing over 4000 toxins into the soil or water that surrounds them

It would be tempting to discount this issue due to the small size of a cigarette butt. However a study conducted by SDSU found that a single cigarette butt placed in a 1 litre tank of water killed half the fish in the tank.

So what can we do to reduce the amount of harm caused to our environment by cigarette litter?

Various research organizations and public health bodies around the world have proposed a variety of solutions to this issue. However one main common solution to the issue is commonly agreed upon.

Many people are simply unaware of just how large the problem of improperly disposed cigarette litter is. They are unaware of how harmful it is to the environment.

Through education and awareness campaigns it is possible to reduce the amount of cigarette litter that is improperly disposed of, reducing the scale of the problem.

It’s time to start treating cigarette butts like the toxic waste they actually are.

The organisation Quitza is a non profit where users from all over the world support each other while quitting smoking using Quitza's custom made social support network. Quitza combines the social support with real time progress tracking technologies where users earn awards when they reach milestones throughout their quit. These are then shared with the community for further support.

PLASTIC FREE JULY

The Challenge

The challenge is quite simple. Attempt to consume no single-use plastic during July.

"Single-use" includes plastic shopping bags, plastic cups, straws, plastic packaging...basically anything that's intended only to be used once and then sent to landfill. If refusing ALL single-use plastic sounds too daunting this time, try the TOP 4 challenge (straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles &coffee cup lids).

The rules

Attempt to consume no single-use plastic during July.

Remember it's not going to be easy! It is a challenge, not a competition so don't worry about being perfect. Resources for plastic-free living can be found on the Plastic Free July website here: http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/living-plastic-free.html

Plastic, in many areas of the world, has become a significant and deadly part of the food chain. Humans have a heavy reliance on the plastics industry; it's a cheap product that is incredibly versatile. Plastics manufacturing and use has grown exponentially over the last decade, as has our plastic waste. 225 million tonnes of plastic is produced each year and unfortunately a significant amount of that ends up in our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has a huge amount of plastic waste which has a detrimental effect on marine life.

Why use something for a few seconds that is going to spend the rest of your life trying to break down in landfill? We really need to change our habits.